The present invention relates to body structures of vehicles such as motor vehicles, and more specifically to vehicle roof structures of an open-top type having one or more roof openings closed with one or more roof lids.
FIG. 9A shows a so-called T bar roof, and FIGS. 5-8 show a conventional inside structure of the T bar roof.
As shown in FIG. 7, this roof structure has an H-shaped roof inner assembly 4 which is structurally connected with left and right rear pillars 2 and left and right front pillars 3 of the vehicle body, and an H-shaped roof outer panel 5 which is joined to the inner assembly 4.
At the upper end of each pillar, a roof inner panel 6 of the inner assembly 4 is joined to a front pillar inner panel 7 (or an unillustrated rear pillar inner panel) by spot welding, and a roof reinforcing panel 9 of the inner assembly 4 is joined to a front pillar outer panel 10 (or a rear fender panel 11) by spot welding. After the inner assembly 4 is welded to each pillar, the roof outer panel 5 is joined to the front pillar outer panel 10 (or the rear fender panel 11) by spot welding. Reference numeral 12 denotes an access hole.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a lock member 13 is fixed to the upper end of each pillar by a bolt 14. Each lock member 13 has a lock hole for receiving a lock bolt 1a for locking the roof lid 1. A similar structure is shown in NISSAN Service Bulletin, 1986 October, No. 566, page D-1, published by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
However, this roof structure is disadvantageous because the roof outer panel 5 is joined to the roof inner assembly 4 after the roof inner assembly 4 has been connected to the vehicle body. The roof outer panel 5, however, is low in rigidity, and susceptible to distortion during the assembly process. Therefore, the connection of the roof outer panel 5 to the vehicle body often causes distortion of the roof opening and results in a poor fit of the roof lid, and necessitates an additional cumbersome job to adjust the fit. The poor dimensional accuracy of the roof opening affects not only the fit of the roof lid but also the watertightness of the roof lid.